Bus heater



July 29, 1930. L. c. HYATT BUS HEATER Filed July 15. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lgwENIoR 6/ ,a

ATTORNEY July 29, 1930.

L. C. HYATT BUS HEATER Filed July 15, 192'! 2 Shoots-Sheet 2 INVENTOR M e 42 $1.44 4.227

ATTORNEY Y ulllllrHiUHPt :lxi i xiixelqliil Patented 'July 29, 1930 UNITED STA ES I PATENT OFFICE LOUIS C. HYATT, F ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CONSOLIDATED CAB-HEATING COMPANY, INC., OF ALBANY, YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK ,nus manna Application filed July 1 5,

" For a. detailed description of the present form ofimy invention, reference may be had companying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein Fig.1 is aside elevationof a bus equ pped with my heater;

Fig. 2'is a plan of the heater in posltion;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan of the heater alone and i Fig. 41, is a longitudinal vertical section of Fig. 3.

My invention relates to heaters for busses or analogous gas-engine propelled vehicles of 1 the type'whereinthe toxic gases of the engine 5 exhaust are firstrendered innocuousby combustion and the heat of the combustion is taken from the innocuous side of; the burner and transferred to the body of the bus. It is my present purpose to provide,,as a defin te separable. article, a device based on this principle which may be applied to basses generali 1 v Referring to the drawing, A represents. the usual exhaust pipe ofjth'e bus engine. This pipe, as shown in Fig. 1, drops downon the exhaust side of the engine, to a level below the body of the bus. Instead, however, of opening into the atmosphere at that point as is customary, I connectit to a pipe A which, as shown in dotted lines, Figure ,2, extends transversely across thefengine to the intake side thereof and is connected to my apparatus, indicated as a whole, by the letter B.

. My apparatus B comprises a long cylinder R located beneath the bus body andextending longitudinally in a, line *below the seat or seats onlone side pf the vehicler. The cylinder R is dividedginto two part4. a trans- 40 verse partitionR (see Fig. 4) .wh1ch defines what I tei-m the toxic 'nc. 'lhe part of the heater at the'right of t is paftition may be termed the non-toxic r part-combustion part. The space on the: le of this partition, as it appears in Fig. 4,is=unsafe and the space on the right" thereof safe for driving heat from the interior conbustion tube S to heat the bus body. One caitinetal section S nally through the partitiof R? aforesaid.

of this combustion tube Silasses longitudi 1927. Serial No. 805,849. The section on the'right is welded to s but the section on the left maybe merely bolted vto the following specification and to the acthereto. The burner apparatus within tube S constitutes the subject matter of my applicationfor Patent No. 189,320, filed May 6,

1 927, and is here shown and described only as a means to aidthe understanding of the invention which I now disclose herein and claim. At the right of partition R, on the non-toxic side thereof, a duct R leads upward from the cylinder B into the body of the vehicle as shown in Fig. 1. The pipe A aforesaid, which receives the exhaust flow from exhaust pipe A, enters the )3, spaced away from said pipe. Through said space air is drawn-through slots 2, 2 in tube S bythe suction of the jet issuing from A. This is'the air which, mixing with the jet, not only .maintains, the combustion but also supplies the oxygen that converts the poisonous monoxide (CO) to the innocuous dioxide (CO of carbon. This air is taken from within casing R as hereinafter explained. At 13 and 15 are Davy screens constructed to offer no material resistance to the assage of the jet from A but to limit the vi ration of' the combustion flame which vibration results from the pulsating pressure of the exhaust. The spark plug 14 is constantly in operation to maintain the flame. "At the right of the spark plug is the stabilizer-which includes a perforated tube G preferably tapered as shown with a perforated cone H and a perforated partition H The function of the stabilizer and the screens 13 and 15 is to keep the combustion from stopping at unex- 'pected times, a trouble which has long prethe compartment at the leftiof said partition 1 of the vehicle.

The above described apparatusis in the nature of a selfcontained attachment which may be applied to buses already built, since it does not involve any modification of the bus structure. Its operation is as follows:

Assuming the engine to be in operation the exhaust gases issuing from pipe A draw in air by injector suction through cone 3, which air is mingled in chamber 12 with the gases and the mixture passes freely through screens .13 and 15 into chamber 16- where it is ignited by plug 14. Heretofore the combustion could not bereadil maintained, it being my discovery that t is was due to the wide fluctuations of pressure and consequent velocity in the exhaust. These fluctuations are due not only to the-succeeding explosions in the engine cylinders out also to a variety of other causes, including the composition of the fuel and the character of individual engines and individual makes of engine and carburettor.

Underthese fluctuations the origin point of the flame would vibrate back and forth and ultimately would move so far to the exit side as to outstrip the velocity of flame propagation and so become extinguished. In my con-- struction the Davy screens 13 and 15' limit the left-ward excursion of the flame while the stabilizer, without materially obstructing the flow, acts to spread out or disperse it and maintain enough of the gas, without the ignition. region to prevent its extinction. Thus a certain normal flow-enters central tube C and passes-through the perforated partition H and out. But an increased flow will be dispersed or spread out into the space between tubeC and the inner wall of tube S and there remain subject to the flame through the orifices in the wall oftube C. This stabilised form of burner is the special subject matter of my aforesaid application No. 189,320. In my present application this burner is contamed in a standardized casing R of greater diameter than the burner itself. The air in front of the advancing vehicle is drawn into the cone T 'and passes through the air duct T into the enlargement W on the under side of casing it and enters the casing on the ri lit-hand side, as viewed in Fig. 4, of the a oresaid partition R and leaves casing R by the duct R which leads to the interior of the vehicle body. By this means the incoming air is immediately heated only by the heat in the non-toxic portion of the fiow through the interior of the heater. Thereby I utilize what has-heretofore been a noxious waste product to heat the vehicle in a sale and innocuous manner. The exhaust gases from the engine are delivered by the pipe A into the tube S at a temperature of about 400 degrees, but after reconibustion reaches a temperature oil 1500 to 2000 degrees. This provides an amount of heat adequate for all emergency requirements in the largest bus or analogous gas-engine driven vehicle while the system is free from contamination by the noxious contents of the raw exhaust.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A bus heater comprising a casin g provided with a transverse partition, a gas burner extending longitudinally of the casing and through said partitiom an air intake forthe burner located on oneside of said partition,

said casing on the other side of said partition having an air chamber heated by said burner, means for introducing fresh air into said chamber, and means for conducting heated air from said chamber.

2. A heater fdr vehicles comprising a combustion tube having an inlet at one end and an outlet for products of combustion at the other end, means for introducing exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine into said tube at said inlet end, means for mixing air with said exhaust gases, means for reburning a;

the'mixtureof exhaust gases and air within said tube at a position near said inlet end, means providing an air chamber surroimding said tube between the outlet end of said tube and the position at which said mixture ing said air chamber against admission of-exhaust gases thereinto 3: A heater for vehicles comprising a'casing, a burner extending longitudinally through said casing, a partition extending transversel bur nerant. the adjacent surrounding wall of said casing, means for introducing a mix-- tu re of air and exhaust gases to said burner on one side of said partition, means for seburning said mixt 'urefsaid partition 0ccupyus ing a position approximately coinciding with the location at which the reburning of said mixture takes place, an air chamber located on the other side of said partition and heated by said burner, and means for discharging 12o heated air fronu said casing.

4. A heater for vehicles comprising a casing, a tube exten Cling through said casm and having an inlet I end, and a discharge en the space between sz \iid. tube and said casing ineluding a combi 181 i011 chamber and an air chamber in long it udinally spaced relation, means for introd m :ing a mixture of exhaust gases and air in 1;) 1e inlet endof said tube, means'for reburn in said mixture within that across the space between said 11 portion of said tube enclosed by said combustion chamber, means'for introducing air into said air chamber so as to be heated b the products of combustion flowin through the remaining portion of saidvtu e, means for conducting heated air from said casing, and means segregating the combustion chamber from the air chamber so as to prevent introduction of toxic gases from said combustion chamber to said air chamber.

5. A heater for vehicles comprising a combustion tube having aninlet at one end and an outlet for products of combustion at the other end, means for introducing exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine into said tube at said inlet end, means for mixing air with said exhaust gases, means for reburning the mixture of exhaust gases and air within said tube at a position near said inlet end, means providing an air chamber surrounding said tube between the outlet end of said tube and the position at which said mixture is reburned, so that air in said chamber will be'heated, means for introducing air into said chamber, means for conducting heated air from said chamber, means for closing said air chamber against admission of exhaust gases thereinto, and means within said tube for reducing fluctuations of the mixture during the reburnin thereof.

6. A heater for ve icles comprising a casing, a tube extending through said casin and having an inlet end and a discharge en the space between said tube and said casing including a combustion chamber and an air chamber in longitudinally spaced relation, means for introducin a mixture of exhaust gases and airin the inlet end of said tube, means for reburning said mixture within that portion of said tube enclosed b said combustio'n chamber, means for intro ucing air into said air chamber so as to be heated b the products of combustion flowing throng the remaining portion of said tube, means for conducting heated air from said casing, means segregating the combustion chamber from the air chamber so as to prevent introduction of toxic gases from said combustion chamber to said air chamber, and means for reducing fluctuations of the mixture during the reburnin thereof.

Signed at lbany,county of Albany, State of New York, this 13th day of July, 1927.

LOUIS C. HYATT. 

